(73) Frustration Displacement or Feed Me!

Max stands over me and panting loudly. He has always been a loud panter. When he first came to live with us we thought he was a loud panter because he was anxious confused. I have mentioned before that Max was a rescued Newfoundland and at his previous home had been kept outside on a chain or in a fenced in area. He was so wild that at a year(the age we took him home) he did not know how to be on a leash. He has calmed down such an amazing amount that it is hard to know he is the same dog. He even looks different. The excessively loud panting has not gone away however. I read somewhere that dogs can get damage to their vocal cords by pulling so hard on their collar or chain. I believe this is what happened to Max. He sounds like he has a difficult time getting air into his lungs. He snores so loud when he is asleep you can hear him upstairs. The reason Max is standing over me and panting is to tell me that he wants to get fed. Usually when he does this it is exactly 5:00 and his internal clock tells him that he gets fed at 5:00. What Max doesn't know is that sometimes it is not 5:00 when we feed him. Sometimes it is far later and sometimes I need to feed him earlier. But to Max, 5:00 is dinner. Tonight I will wait until it is later than 5:00 because I am waiting for a neighbor girl to come over to let them out and feed them. Now you are asking,"What? That doesn't make sense."You are right, except that we are practicing for having he be a dog sitter for us. See, next week, Brad will be out of town and I have to work some long long days when I won't be able to let the dogs out. Now they are able to "hold it" for a long time but this is one of those times when it is a long, long time. Brad assures me that they really could wait until I get home, but the thought of them sitting for 13 hours with their legs crossed just seems like unnecessary torture. So, I contacted the teenager across the street to ask her if she would be willing to come and let the dogs out! The great thing about this teen is that she is unfazed by Max. She loves him and she has that mix of love and confidence that makes a great dog sitter. I talked to her mom and then asked her if she wanted to help out Max and Beeker. When she came to practice the first time she came over to the house in crutches. My heart sank. Yes, I felt sorry that she was on crutches and had one leg wrapped up, how ever my heart sank because I thought that she would not want to or be able to do the job. Silly me! She had hurt her knee from playing soccer but has had knee problems for a while. She's really good on her crutches. Sometimes she forgets how to use them and sort of hops and skips at the same time. We made a plan as to how she could even use the crutches to get the dogs to move back if she needed to get into the house and the dogs are too excited to let her in the door. This sometimes happens when they are anxious to go outside to do their business. So the first practice I walked her through the process and she watched how they went right outside and then into the garage to eat, then back outside. The next time Amy came I had her do the routine and I watched, close at hand. She did great except (we both laughed at this)when she let them outside to do their business, she went out with them and tried to talk them into going, well both dogs just stood and looked at her thinking she was out there to play or talk to them. They wouldn't do anything. We figured out that she needed to just let them out and stay inside. Today she will do the whole routine by herself. I know she will do great. The dogs will be excited to finally get fed too.

Max is up again now standing by my side letting me know I haven't fed him yet and it is past 5:00. How do I tell him that he will get fed as soon as Amy is finished with soccer and gets here to feed him? It's just so tough to wait. Max finds this is a good time to mix it up with Beeker and then they wear them selves out and with a huge exhale they lay down to rest for a while. Maybe this is dog fustration displacement. They know how to use up the energy they were putting into getting my attention and used wrestling to use that energy and calm themselves down. What brilliant dogs!

(72) A Good Book and a Great Movie

First off, We watched the great movie Hidalgo (2004) tonight and still love this movie. If you haven't seen it in a while watch it. It is the true story of a pony express rider in the 1890, who goes to Arabia to compete in the 3,000 mile Ocean of Fire race. It has everything even Omar Sharif. What I love most is the man's devotion to his horse and the horse's love and devotion to the man. I say it is a feel good movie but it also is heart wrenching at times. Just watch it and let me know.

Beeks is getting very good at jumping through the hoop mow. Both dogs will do anything for the sweet potato pieces. I cut them up into little slices and they will do absolutly anything, follow me anywhere if they smell it. It's a good thing that it is good for them. Beeks can jump through the hoop when it is about a foot to a foot and a half above the ground. He doesn't always remember to start running before he ges to the hoop and so then psych's himself out. He just stands with the hoop around his neck and leans forward thrying to ge the treat. Then he backs up, goes the other way and gets a little better run. He's at about 50 percent of the time.

I finished my book, Love is the Best Medicine ,by Dr. Nick Trout. I enjoyed the read and recommend it to you. Here is why I think it is worth the time to read this book. It is by a Veterinary surgeon, who tells the stories of two of his patients and their owners. I like that He shared the ups and downs and delemas of being a veterinarian. He may be optimistic in his discriptions of the families but he also expresses his own fears and concerns about the opperations he performs. I like knowing about the relationships of dogs/pets and their owners. There is a quote that I love where he says... "What did this puppy do that stopped you in your tracks and made you say,'come home with me'? Unlike choosing a human partner, pet owners aren't usually set up by well meaning friends. They haven't filled out a detailed online survey that asertaines compatibility. Raher, they rely on instant attraction and trust a gut feeling, an intangible instinct that more often than not ends up being exactly right." Those few lines speaks to me. When I first saw Beeker in the animal shelter I knew instantly that I loved this little dog. In fact after I took him out for a play, I went back and took another dog out to play just because I didn't want my heart to do the choosing. But... it did anyway. I gave my heart to Beeker the instant I saw him sitting quietly in his kennel. He was the dog for me! This book also shares some animal information that makes sense but that I had not previously known, such as the fact that @ 50 percent of the dogs that live to 10 years have some sort of cancer. That Cat's purr when they are happy but also when they are hurt or in pain, and now some research shows that the vibrational sounds and frequencies may have some chemical healing qualities. It's a good book to read if you like animal stories and want a different kind of animal book.

(71) Joyful Joyful We adore Thee or Ode to Joy

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

It's so great to be loved so unconditionally by my dog. In the morning when Brad lets him out of the laundry room he comes into the bedroom and greets me with such enthusiasm that it makes me smile. His whole body shakes when he wags his tail and looks up at me. Even if I am still asleep. He bumps the bed with the side of his body and when I stir he turns around and comes to where my head is and licks my hand. If I open my hand he licks it and then If I start to scratch him he lifts his head and moves it into position so that I am scratching under his chin. He is always happy to see me and he lets me know it by how he spins around and bows down ready to play. When I have been gone during the day and return home, both dogs are bouncy-happy to see me and are ready to go out into their fenced area. The thing is, when I let them inside afterwards, Beeks is almost beside himself with joy. I think that is part of the thing I love about him, he really embodies what appears to be my idea of joy. I have thought about the meaning of the word joy for a long time. Its a word that may be taken too lightly and lots of people use it to mean the same as happiness. I have thought about it because I believe joy is more than just happiness. I sometimes wonder if I have ever really felt joy. I mean I believe joy is pure, full body, in the moment pleasure. Beeks seems to enjoy every single minute that he is doing any activity, even sleeping. Full body contact,"in the moment" joy. If there ever was a dog that emits joy its Beeks, he's the dog for me. Maybe I have said this before but when he is happy he wags his tail, when he is over-joyed he wags his tail in a circle. A lady we recently met on a figure eight walk said that one of the reasons she loves her Australian Shephard is that her dog's agenda is her agenda. I think that is true with Beeker as well. Where ever I go, Beeks wants to go too,he is happy to do what I am doing and waits near me while I work at what ever I happen to be doing at in the moment. When I am finished he looks at me like he's ready for the next new activity. I have not ever seen him when he isn't happy (okay, I wrote about how I thought he was pouting when I left). When we are ready to go outside he knows by my actions, ie. putting on my shoes, jacket or whatever, and he almost jumps or twirls with excitement. When we go outside to do out walkabout(his runabout)he is so enthusiastic and happy that he has to run it out. He makes his house rounds so fast and so many that it calms him down. Then he walks in the woods or checks out the smells, but he does this with pure joy as well. Watching him be in the moment gives me a daily reason to smile. Beeks lives in this present moment and I wonder if dogs are able to live any other way. I have heard that dogs can be depressed just like people can and I believe that one of our dogs got very depressed after the death of his house mate. Most of the time however, I think that dogs are just so happy for what they have and find pleasure in what ever they are doing. Wouldn't that be a great way to spend our days? They don't seem to spend a lot of time holding much against others when things don't go their way. Beeks greets me with bouncing paws, sparkling eyes and circling wagging tail. When I see him in the morning I feel like the world to him. I am so lucky this playful wagging bundle is my dog.

(70) It was a tough Job but he had to do It

Beeker stands over Max with his rope. Just hangs his mouth with his rope over Max's body so that Max has no doubt that Beeks wants to play. As soon as Max gives any attention to him, Beeks runs off looking back to see if Max is following. He just wants to antagonize Max. Max almost never gets angry with Beeks antics. I have heard him once in a while give the significant growl that lets Beeks know that he isn't interested in the play, but usually he just ignores him. If Beeks gets ignored by Max he doesn't give up. He bows to Max, bit's his ankles or jumps up on his back. Anything to be a bother until he gets some kind of attention. My sister and I have talked about this difference between having a single dog versus having two dogs. Nice to have two dogs to keep each other occupied. On the other hand Juli says that when there is only one dog it has to find it's own sources of entertainment. Jesse James does know how to play, he is creative in figuring out ways to occupy his time (read past post for more on this).

The pictures I have posted here are for my mom. To let her know that the plants are indeed still growing, especially the Canna Lily. When we planted them, She wasn't sure if they would even come up because we planted them so deep. Well, they are really coming up and I suppose that by July we will have flower's! Oh, Did I mention I love plants?

I spent the majority of the day on the computer working on the project that continues to be a challenge. Beeks is so patient and I got a lot of it done today. However, before I got started I worked a while on the cards that I make. This is a busy time for making cards because of all of the graduations, retirements, mother's day, Father's day, birthdays and other times of celebration.That's the good part. The difficult part is not even the number of cards that I make, it is that I don't always feel like I have that creative moment. With most things creative I think that it takes me some time, like about 2 hours to get into it, to get the creative "juices" flowing and then I can really get going on something that is fun and worth doing. Problem is that I have a difficult time finding a large slot of time to devote to it. I love the process and want to do it all the time but hate to just start and then have to quit to do something else. Just another example of my moniker... "there is never enough time".

This morning on our walkabout I was walking up the driveway toward the circle and happened to look up at one of the pottery birdhouses that my mother has made for us and there sitting in the opening was a wren! I hope it has decided to make his home there. We have a number of wrens that come through here and usually one or two decide to make their home in one or another of the many birdhouses that we have hanging around the perimeter of the yard. I just love their song, more melodious than other birds. Brad just got home and we are going to take the dogs for a walk so I will finish this when we return.

Earlier after I finished with my computer work I took Beeks out into the yard with me. When I saw my neighbor across the road and took Beeks with me. I decided he needed to be at a heel and practice that oh so difficult behavior of avoiding all of the activity going on and focusing on my instructions at the same time. This was extremely difficult because he loves the girls in the hood. He did stay at a heel while we walked over and once we were there I released him. He started running around the yard and then over my neighbors newly planted garden so, I put him in a down stay. This almost did Beeks in. However he did stay for a long time while the girls rollerbladed and jumped rope all around him. At one point, on of the girls came up to him and petted him and pointed to something on the ground (she knows his penchant for sticks and bark). At this point he got up and I had to reinstruct him to down stay. I really thought this was a good exercise with Beeks. He did really terrific at this exercise and he had to follow instructions. I love unexpected learning moments like these.

(69) It's Raining Cats and Dogs or my Scaredy Dog

It rained cats and dogs today. I mean it was a sunny and bright warm day here until about 1:00 this afternoon and then the clouds in the north west got black and slowly moved in and then the thunder shook, the lightning zapped and the heavens opened up and down came the rain! It was one of those great Spring thunderstorms that let you know you are happy to have some where to get out of the rain. The smell of a hard rain is like no other clean earthy smell anywhere.

Unfortunately Beeks doesn't like thunder storms at all. They make him anxious and they are loud and they are unpredictable from his point of view. When this storm headed our way he was upstairs with me in the office. I think Beeker really wants to be the strong fearless canine. He tries to be strong all the time. When Max is around, he tries to be the "big Dog on campus". He acts like he knows how to get what he needs. A real dog's dog if you know what I mean. However, when this storm hit he was less than happy about the sounds. I know that dogs have much more sensitive hearing and I am sure that what ever we hear during a storm they hear it louder and probably more of it. Anyway, Beeks almost shook with fear. I had the window open and he laid his head on the day bed looking up at the rain and darkness, almost like he was in a trance. He panted the kind of panting that dogs do when they aren't hot or tired but overwhelmed and anxious. As the storm continued I realized how tense he was and stopped what I was doing and shut the window. Beeks followed me back to my desk and sat as close as possible to me. In fact, if he could have jumped into my lap he would have. As it was he sat on my foot and leaned up next to me. I stroked him behind his ears and under his chin. In a way I loved this rhythmic action as well as he did. It is easy to get into petting him and forget that I am doing it. I was working away and petting this leaning dog when my computer shut down. I thought it was caused by a power surge or a lightening strike. But something was wrong. No other power source had gone out and so I couldn't figure out why my computer went off. Then it went back on but went off again. Then it hit me. Beeks was leaning up so hard against me and I was so close to my computer that he leaned against it and turned the power button off on the hard drive. That is pretty hard leaning. After I moved him away there was a loud crack of thunder and Beeks went under the desk. It was a better position anyway. He was out of the way and in a safe comfort zone for him as well.
One of my past dogs, Berek, got so anxious during loud noises that once on the Fourth of July he broke out of the yard but then got back in and broke a toenail, so bad he bled all over and hid under the bed. After that we got doggie downers and things were much better for him. The reason I share this is because I know that dogs ears are much more sensitive to vibrations and thunder and lightning really can hurt their ears. Max was hunkered down in the laundry room and didn't come out until the sun emerged about an hour later.

From the backyard...
Brad put the hummingbird feeders out and this morning we already saw a hummingbird at one of them. I use to think it was too early for them but I guess most all of the flora and fauna are here early this year.
Although the plants all loved the rain, the hostas really look beat. i hope they buck up and do better with a little sunshine.
There is only one place that we are able to get a good look at GeorgenGracie's nest anymore. From our screened in porch we still have a little wedge of view, She has weathered the storm well. I do worry about her. She's probably been through this before.

(68) Roll Over, Roll Over

Today went screamin' by. Although we got up early, like a regular work day I had computer to do. Brad went to work and after a walk about to check out all the plants after the hard rains and the replanting, I got to work on the new project. Beeks was delighted to go running around the wet yard. The hostas seemed to survive the night although they look fairly limp. The great thing about hostas is that they are hardy and even if they don't perk up they will come back strong as ever next year. Today my friend came and picked up the hostas we dug up for her. They filled up the entire ladies Lawn cart. It was a hoot to see her drive away with her Jeep filled in green. I hope she made it home, she certainly couldn't see out the back window or have anyone ride with her.

Before I went upstairs to work I decided to give the dogs some sweet potato. These are the treats that we got on Saturday from the feed store. These specific sweet potatoes are chewier and look more like big dried apricots. The dogs love them. I cut one up in smaller strips and then decided to make them work for their treat. Taking them into the bedroom where there is carpet, I tried to put both dogs in a sit stay. They could smell the sweet potato and Beeks didn't want to stay, he kept hovering over me just waiting for a chance to steal a goodie. Max went down but was distracted by me waving my hand (trying to keep the food away from Beeker. At this point Max didn't have enough room to roll over which was what I was attempting to get them to do. Finally I stood up and moved them further away from each other and that helped a great deal. I gave the roll over command and Max moved his head in a circle, but left his body on his side. Another round of giving commands and motioning with my arm, and he rolled over.(I'm not as proficient as my mom at communicating this command) With Max this doesn't happen quickly or smoothly. He more or less roll so that his legs are up in the air and then when they are directly above him he flops over to the other side. It's somewhat comical. But here's the funniest part. After getting Max to roll over another two times, I moved on to Beeks. He was so eager to get the food that he couldn't stay down in a down. He kept getting up. So I'm saying, down, roll over, and he's focused on Me and I'm focused on him, and Max, rolls over. I couldn't believe it. What a hoot! I just gave Max the treat and told Beeks, "See? That's what I want you to do!". After laughing for about 5 minutes, I slowed down, got Beeks to down,stay and roll o-v-e-r. We practiced that two more times until the rest of the treat was gone and then play time was up!

I like doing this computer project especially when it goes smoothly. It makes time fly by. That's also the problem, My day can go so quickly. It's a good thing that I have my trusty dog to remind me when it is time for them to eat dinner. Beeks and Max keep me on their eating schedule so that I take breaks too. Whn Brad got home we took the dogs on the short figure eight. We all needed some exercise. Tonight Max struggled with ignoring the other dogs we passed and Beeks wanted to crane his neck to get a good look too. They always struggle on their walks when they haven't had one for a while or if they have been inside too long and are needy. Last night was a different story. Before it rained we grilled out and although is was already dark, we had both dogs off leash. We had them just sit with us as we sat out front. It was a perfect temperature for a perfect evening.

(67) Hosta Splittin' Day

Today is hosta splittin' day. We got up early and started digging up two of our three hosta beds. After digging them, we split them and then replanted them more spaced out. We also placed some of the extra in a bed that previously had only ferns and lillies. Although exhausted from all the digging and moving, we decided that they really looked better with lots of room to grow.

Happy May Day!

I learned something new today. It's always good, don't you think? We went to the feed store today and I asked the clerk if they carried prebiotics as well as probiotics. What followed was a whole new understanding for me. If you remember I wanting to figure out why Max had loose stools and I assumed that in part it had to do with the fact that we had run out of the probiotics that we previously used to sprinkle on his food. The fact that he was willing to eat when the probiotics were sprinkled on his food was even more evidence to me that he needed it. After researching the difference of probiotics and prebiotics I decided that the reason Max needed prebiotics was because he needed more fiber. After talking to the clerk I learned that the dog food that we have been feeding them (Canidae) already has both probiotics and prebiotics in it. He suggested that Max's loose stools maybe due to anxiety, or Max might have irritable bowl syndrome and he (Max) would be better off with supplementing his diet with frozen green beans or peas. He also suggested that sweet potatoes were a good source of fiber as well. After discussing the possibility of changing the dogs current food to one of less protein (same brand just one protein instead of four)as well as adding beans, peas and sweet potatoes we decided to try the added vegetables first before changing food. before we left the feed store Brad picked up an antler and questioned the guy on its true appropriateness. I mean really an antler? Turns out that antlers are shed each year like a snake looses it's skin or like some mammals shed their hides. Also antlers are made of calcium (makes sense to me) and are not toxic to dogs. Therefore we got one for out heavy chewer (Beeks). Sense we got home and I gave it to Beeker he started chewing it and did not let up. It is dense and difficult to chew and he loved it. He walked around with it and wouldn't let Max near it. At first I was sorry that I didn't pay the big price for each dog to get one but Brad reminded me that Max really doesn't chew like Beeks and he would have just forgotten about it after a few minutes. True enough. The cost of the antler piece was weighted. The size we got was about 7 inches long and cost the same as the Dinosaur Nylabone. We had to take it away from Beeks after about three hours of nonstop chewing. He was obsessed with it. He didn't follow me or go anywhere he just wanted to chew the thing. After we took it away it seemed that he was depressed. could he be addicted in such a short time? Is it addictive?
After the dogs ate dinner and we were still busy with chores I decided to give each dog a frozen green bean. I gave one to Max first and he gobbled it right up without hesitation. Then I gave Beeks one and he smelled it slowly then hesitantly took it. He went to the front rug (he does this to protect his food from Max) then he dropped it out of his mouth, like a kid who doesn't like lima beans. When I pointed it out to Max, he ate it up right away. Beeks wants his fiber the old fashioned way. Through sticks and bark! At least the right dog likes the vegetables.